I'm having trouble keeping plecos, long term... numerous tanks, and conditions???

[Magnum Man]

all tanks have been 10% per week, or a little longer, plus make up for plant use and evaporation... on this tank, a 45 gallon, I draw 5 gallons, and add back 15 gallons... and this particular tank is a dark water tank...

 

[MaloK]

I would try an experiment...

Ramp up the water changes up to 50% every week for 7 weeks. or Until you can be sure all the water has been replaced at a good pace. and the water is back to nearly no tannin.

Vacuum the maximum of mulm you can. Since they are grazers, too much waste products in their diet is detrimental in the long term.

But I would start with a good "purification of the water" by massive dissolution.

If you are going to try. Don't use pure RO. But re-mineralised or a mix of your well and RO to maintain your water hardness.

 

[Magnum Man]

I appreciate the help, but this is the last tank to have trouble with plecos ( 3 others previously, 2 of which were clear water ) and coincidentally ( again this is only the latest to have issues ) I do nothing to add tannins to this water, the color comes from the king tigers chewing on the wood... and this tank has many other fish that want the dark water, & I'm having no issues with any of them, this has been one of my most stable tanks... the only reason the plecos are in this tank is, because I can't get them out, without completely destroying it...

 

[anewbie]

all tanks have been 10% per week, or a little longer, plus make up for plant use and evaporation... on this tank, a 45 gallon, I draw 5 gallons, and add back 15 gallons... and this particular tank is a dark water tank...

What does dark water mean - does it mean tap water with a bit of stuff leaching or does it mean ro water.

Also i do a 50% water change on all tanks under 80 gallons and 40 gallons (fixed) on all tanks over 80 gallons. Drawing 5 gallons is almost nothing as the 'stuff' in the water stays when water evaporate so over time the water will be quite polluted if you have any density of fishes.

 

[Magnum Man]

I give up... I guess I'll take up raising field mice, since the 100 year old farm house has no shortage of those

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I give up... I guess I'll take up raising field mice, since the 100 year old farm house has no shortage of those

YES!

 

[MaloK]

I you search for Allelochemicals produced by plants.

It becomes clear that plants are also part of the bioload of a tank and are contributing to "toxin" buildup.

What I call toxin is in the sense of chemical released in the water. And "studies" already demonstrated that allelochemicals are wide spread and has great influence on ecosystem processes.

So technically speaking we have no idea if the plants are not releasing chemicals that could become problematic in high quantity, no idea what, how and if, it buildup.

But In tank with humongous bioload, "Larger than a half" water changes are a must. Or things slowly drift south...

My personal opinion tho.

 

[anewbie]

I give up... I guess I'll take up raising field mice, since the 100 year old farm house has no shortage of those

Well that is your choice of course but conversely you could learn to be a better fish keeper; then again a lot of folks (I hear) really get into those field mouses after all they are quite intelligent. I hear they know how to re-arrange a drawer to hide when they have stolen candy....



I can't find it but there is actually a long research article on the things mouse do at night that is quite impressive

 

[CassCats]

I'd definitely be suspicious of the water change regime being the inevitable culprit.

Plecos often come from fast moving rivers and these have a high turnover rate of water. There is little built up of waste as it is washed downstream very quickly.

This makes them very sensitive to pollutants in aquariums and are not likely to thrive longterm in tanks that don't remove at least 50% regularly, waste and pollution builds up, even ones we do not test for. Plants do not remove disease pathogens from the water or other pollutants. Most plecos are not used to living in environments with a high rate of these things.